The present invention relates to automatic chording devices for instruments such as the guitar, banjo or mandolin.
Previous attempts at developing automatic chording devices for the guitar and similar instruments have generally fallen into four different categories. This prior art is represented by the disclosure of the following U.S. patents: Pettijohn, U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,945; Chang, U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,560; Brimhall, U.S. Pat. No. 3,011,380; Spina, U.S. Pat. No. 2,025,786 and Schrickel, U.S. Pat. No. 2,027,937. The aforementioned categories are those designated by first, Pettijohn, second, Chang, third, Brimhall, and fourth, Spina and Schrickel.
Looking first at the PettiJohn design, this design is characteristic of chording devices which are attached to the hand, and consisting of a bar and several fingering pads. By virtue of the placement of the fingering pads and appropriate manipulation of the device at a given fret position, that is placement on the strings either laterally or at a right angle to the finger board axis or at some other angle to the finger board axis, the device allows chords to be formed. At a given fret location proper manipulation of the device will produce for a given key the major, minor sub-dominant and dominant chords found in that key. To produce other chords the device is moved to another fret position and similar families of chords are produced. Manual fingering is required in forming some of the chords, and because of differences between steel guitar and classical guitar, and different length fret boards, the device may not fit all styles of guitars because of the very critical spacings longitudinally and laterally among the bar and pads. The problems with this device are that manipulating it precisely to the proper position at each fret to reproduce the desired chords is almost as difficult as trying to finger the chords without a chording device. Also, one must develop some way of memorizing what chords are produced at each fret. Although at one fret location one can play the tonic dominant and some dominant chords for a given key, one cannot play any of the relative minor chords that normally would be played in the same key.
The second type of prior chording devices is characterized by Chang, and are attached to a modified guitar neck. At any one fret position, levers enable one to play a major, minor and dominant seventh chord and then, when shifted laterally, to play corresponding chords in the dominant family. As an example, at one fret position A, A minor, A seventh, and with a lateral shift E, E minor, E seventh, can be played by depressing appropriate levers. The disadvantage of such a device is that it requires a guitar to be modified, it is bulky, has a complicated structure, is extremely limited in terms of its chording versatility and is very inflexible in terms of its longitudinal movement along the neck.
The third type of prior chording devices are characterized by Brimhall, and those are mechanical devices securely fastened to the guitar, remaining in one position at all times, producing several basic chords. As an example, the Brimhall design produces twelve chords. Some such devices incorporate buttons, others utilize depressable bars. The limitation here is that only twelve chords can be produced and, one is dealing with an aesthetically bulky item which is very limited in terms of its practical use.
Finally, the fourth type of prior chording device is characterized by devices such as Spina and Schrickel, which are specifically to be used on so-called Hawaiian or opened-tuned guitars, which might commonly be tuned E, A, E, C sharp, E, and would typically be played with the guitar lying upon the lap, the left hand holding the chording device and sliding it along the neck of the instrument, with a bar or some device for depressing the strings against the frets, open chords being produced at each fret, different chords depending on the fret.
As previously noted, these devices are exclusively for use with the guitar supported face up on the lap of the player. Such devices have a leg or legs protruding forward or rearward to produce minor chords instead of a major chord. Typically, they produce not the relative minor but the minor chord of the major chord at that fret. For instance, at the fret producing a C major chord, proper lateral and rotational movement of the bar will produce a C minor chord. As demonstrated below herein, this is totally different from the present invention wherein the leg or legs or lateral adjustment of the device will produce a relative minor of the major chord produced at that particular fret. As an example, the C major chord and the A minor chord.
None of the prior art devices provide the kind of simplicity, flexibility, ease of use, or design approach and specific characteristics found in the present invention which is known as the Bozung design.
It is thus an object of this invention to overcome the defects of the above-discussed prior art.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a simple, efficient chording device for guitar, banjo, mandolin or the like.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a chording device which will automatically produce at a single fret position on a guitar-like instrument, major, dominant seventh, relative minor, and relative minor sevenths, as well as major sixth chords.